Richard Branson is scheduled to edge out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos in the space race this weekend. Maybe it is just me, but this doesn’t feel like the US beating the Russians to the moon. Nor does it feel like a significant accomplishment. The technology to leave the dirt and return has been around for decades. What is new is how they do it. Still, is it that big of a deal?
Here is the crux of what I am getting: how many people can afford to fly to space? Not many. So, what is this all about? It’s not a viable long-term business unless the government subsidizes it. But we are going to Mars! Right, and is that a viable business apart from being sponsored by the government? No. The technological leaps made with rocket technology are truly amazing, but at the end of the day, unless we use it for something here, it is not but a transfer of wealth to the rich.
Even if the wildest predictions about Mars come true, it will be the ones with the government contracts who cash in. I suspect that most of those predictions will not come to pass. The space race is a space racket.
Prediction: The space tourism industry turns out to be a bust.